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EHRMAHGERD: CYBERBULLYING

Kristin and Dannielle, founders of the advice website and youth outreach organization Everyone Is Gay, will discuss the role of cyber bullying in our online communities and share stories from several youth who have experienced cyber bullying firsthand. The anonymity allowed in online conversations can foster aggression in many forms, and it can often seem as if the cyberbullying target has no way of responding proactively. Hinging on their work with LGBTQ youth and their own experience with social media, Kristin and Dannielle will focus their discussion on what young people, youth service providers, and social media developers can do to address these situations. The presentation will hinge on the stories and input of young people in order to specifically examine the most pressing aspects of online communication and its potential to not only foster connections but also encourage aggressive individual attacks.

Additional Supporting Materials

Questions Answered

In what way can we most effectively identify instances of online bullying and how can we reasonably respond to it?

To what extent is anonymity essential to the online experience? How does it affect the construction and survival of communities such as Tumblr and Formspring, which have anonymous options, but also that of Facebook and Twitter, where your identity is always attached to the content you post?

Whose job is it to speak out against online bullying? If someone is being targeted, who should they turn to with a reasonable expectation of a proper response?

To what extent can or should sites be held accountable for the violent or threatening content posted by its members?

How connected are our online lives to our "real" lives? If we understand and address the increasing "realness" of our online identities, will it help us understand and address the way we deal with online aggression?